The subject of today's blog is Rick Medlock, who is a man of many parts leading to a range of companies to avoid if you can.
Rick Medlock was appointed a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Cheapflights.co.uk in May 2008.
Cheapflights.co.uk is a price comparison site for flights. One alternative site is skyscanner.net. There may be others.
Rick is also the CFO of Inmarsat who operate 11 satellites that provide voice and data communication worldwide. This will be a tricky one to boycott as you may be using Inmarsat whenever you use a mobile phone or watch live TV or even when using the web. They own and operate the hardware your telco, TV station or ISP use to relay whatever signal you're after. Very hi-tech, very clever, very hard to avoid. When they idea of a boycott was first mooted on CiF one sceptic posted that it would be hard to boycott Inmarsat. I fear he may turn out to be correct.
lovefilm.com is a couch-potato's dream. They are an online film and games rental company. Basically they're Blockbuster without the walk to the shop. They even sell view online subscriptions so you don't even have to move from your PC to your TV. Rick is a non-Executive director of lovefim.com. The alternative is to get some exercise by walking down to the video shop, or going on an anti-cuts demo.
The Betting Group. For the first time since starting this blog I have drawn a total blank as to who or what The Betting Group is. A Google search directs me to betfair.com, but I can find no mention of Rick Medlock on the betfair site and have to assume that Google is sending me there because betfair is 'A' betting group, although possibly not 'The' Betting Group. If anyone can send me links to any information sources I would be deeply grateful. My email is betting at howtowinelections dot co dot uk.
Business Week reports Rick's income as being £582,000 per year.
Rick Medlock joined the Board of Inmarsat in September 2004. Prior to joining Inmarsat, he had served as chief financial officer and company secretary of NDS Group plc since 1996. Mr. Medlock previously served as chief financial officer of several private equity backed technology companies in the United Kingdom and the United States.Mr Medlock is a non-executive director of Cheapflights Limited and Lovefilm International Limited and is Chairman of their Audit Committees. He is also a non-executive director and senior independent director of OpenBet Technologies Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. Mr. Medlock holds an MA in Economics from Cambridge University.
On 18th October, Rick Medlock signed an open letter calling on the Chancellor to continue the coalition government's plans to reduce the public finance deficit in one term, plans which included swingeing cuts on the poorest members of society and which risk pushing this country into a double-dip recession, the likes of which has not been seen since the last time the tories took power and tanked the economy in the early 80's.
For this reason Rick Medlock is considered to be a fully signed up member of the Big Business Society and we urge people to boycott Cheapflights.co.uk, lovefilm.com, The Betting Group (once I work out who are and what names they trade under) & Inmarsat (if you can).
